20 stars who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2023
2023 has been a year of highs and lows for the LGBTQ+ community, but the power of celebrities and those with public platforms coming out and sharing their truth with the world can’t be understated.
This year, we’ve witnessed a wave of celebrities stepping into their truth and coming out as part of the LGBTQ+ community, including Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp, YouTuber Kris Tyson, The Last of Us actor Bella Ramsey, and incoming Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa.
Here are 20 celebrities who bravely told the world about their LGBTQ+ identity in 2023.
Noah Schnapp
Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp came out publicly as gay in a TikTok video in January.
The actor, who turned 19 at the beginning of the year, plays gay character Will Byers in the hit Netflix series and has since reflected on the support he received from cast mates and fans alike.
Wayne Brady
Actor and gameshow host Wayne Brady celebrated coming out as pansexual in August.
The 51-year-old How I Met Your Mother star made a TikTok video, dancing under rainbow confetti and opened up about feeling more liberated than ever.
Adore Delano
RuPaul’s Drag Race season six finalist Adore Delano came out as transgender in July in a lengthy Instagram video. Fellow drag queens were quick to share their joy at the 31-year-old star’s news.
Jade Jolie
Another RuPaul’s Drag Race star, Jade Jolie shared an update on social media in October to announce that she was trans.
The Taylor Swift impersonator, 36, told supportive followers that said she was “deciding to choose myself”.
Ncuti Gatwa
Incoming Doctor Who star Gatwa casually came out as queer in an interview in September after sharing a moving story about attending Manchester Pride.
The actor, who turns 31 later this week, also played Eric in Sex Education, and spoke about the impact seeing a fellow queer Rwandan person during the celebrations had on him.
Paulie Calafiore
The Challenge: USA star Calafiore shared his joy at coming out as bisexual in August.
He spoke about tackling “toxic masculinity” with GLAAD, and told his followers on Instagram that at the age of 34 he “finally feels free and seen”.
Josh Kiszka
Rock singer and founding member of the Grammy-award-winning band Greta van Fleet, Josh Kiszka, came out as queer in June.
The 27-year-old Tennessee-based singer spoke out in response to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being rolled out across the state. He revealed that he has been in a “loving, same-sex relationship” for eight years.
Mo’Nique
US comedian Mo’Nique came out as queer during her Netflix special, My Name is Mo’Nique, in April.
The 55-year-old TV personality opened up on stage about her struggle to accept her sexuality and memories of a gender-non-confirming relative, “Uncle Tina”.
Gabby Windey
In August, The Bachelorette star Gabby Windey, 32, announced her relationship with writer Robby Hoffman in an Instagram post captioned: “Told you I’m a girl’s girl.”
Since then, she has spoken about feeling more “liberated” in the bedroom, while fellow queer Bachelor cast mates have shared their support.
Miss Benny
Actress and singer Miss Benny, 24, came out as a trans woman in June, days after her new show Glamorous was released on Netflix.
In a personal essay, she wrote about “praying every night” when she was younger, hoping that she would wake up like her sisters. In a scene at the end of Glamorous season one, it was revealed that her character, Marco, is also transgender.
Kris Tyson
Kris Tyson, the long-time collaborator of YouTube favourite MrBeast, revealed in April that she had been accessing hormone replacement therapy.
In an update in July, the 27 year old confirmed that she would be using she/her pronouns from now on.
Chloe Veitch
Too Hot To Handle’s Chloe Veitch opened up about being bisexual earlier this year, explaining that her time on The Big Celebrity Detox – a show where celebrities undergo self-improvement exercises – helped her realise her sexuality.
Since then, the 24-year-old English model has revealed that she is “itching” to jump back into the dating world as a bi woman.
Joe Locke
Heartstopper favourite Joe Locke made an excellent point during an interview in August, explaining that although many people assumed that he’s gay, because he plays sweet gay teen Charlie Spring in the Netflix series, he had never publicly confirmed his sexuality.
The actor – now 20 – told Teen Vogue that he knew he was gay when he was about nine years old and was open about his sexuality from the age of 12.
Sufjan Stevens
In October, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Stevens appeared to come out as LGBTQ+ via an Instagram post, in which he dedicated his new album Javelin to his late partner Evans Richardson.
“He was an absolute gem of a person, full of life, love, laughter, curiosity, integrity and joy,” Stevens, 48, wrote.
“He was one of those rare and beautiful ones you find only once in a life time: precious, impeccable and absolutely exceptional in every way.”
of The Bachelor. (Instagram/@alyssaviktoria_/Network 10)
Brooke Cleal
In August, The Bachelor Australia star Brooke Cleal revealed that she was happy and thriving in a same-sex relationship, two years on from being unceremoniously dumped by Jimmy Nicholson in the show’s finale.
In a post, 29-year-old Cleal celebrated embarking on “one of the most loving, liberating, empowering relationships” with Alyssa Viktoria.
Alison Brie
Community actress Alison Brie is a contender for 2023’s award for most nonchalant coming out. The 40-year-old star, also seen in Mad Men, was taking part in BuzzFeed Celeb’s popular series “Celebs Read Thirst Tweets”, and was presented with a tweet which read: “Listen, I am bisexual for a reason and that reason is strictly to be used in a threesome with Dave Franco and Alison Brie.”
Her response? “That’s also why I’m bisexual.”
Simply brilliant.
Joe Tasker
Children’s TV presenter and YouTube star Joe Tasker came out as gay in February via a YouTube video.
The 30-year-old CBBC host called it “the biggest video [he] will probably ever release”, and introduced his boyfriend, telling viewers: “I have never been as happy as I am right now.”
Josh Seiter
In June, Josh Seiter, a contestant on The Bachelorette in 2015, came out as bisexual.
However, the joy around the 36 year old’s coming out was soon eclipsed after he fell victim to a death hoax, with the reality star claiming a hacker had posted a statement on his Instagram page announcing he had died.
He has since opened up about his mental-health struggles.
Bella Ramsey
20-year old Bella Ramsey has had a mammoth 2023, starring in the successful apocalypse series The Last of Us, bagging a role in BBC drama Time, and being nominated for their first Emmy Award.
They started the year by revealing that their gender is fluid and that they identify as non-binary.
“I guess my gender has always been very fluid,” Ramsey told The New York Times. “Someone would call me ‘she’ or ‘her’ and I wouldn’t think about it, but I knew that if someone called me ‘he’, it was a bit exciting.”
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish came out publicly in Variety’s November 2023 cover story, with the “Bad Guy” hitmaker confirming that she is “physically attracted” to women.
The singer later told a Variety red carpet reporter that she doesn’t “believe” in the concept of coming out, stating: “I just don’t really believe in it. I’m just like, ‘Why can’t we just exist?’ I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.
“But I saw the article and I was like, ‘Oh I guess I came out today.’ Okay, cool. It’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know. But it’s cool that they know. I am for the girls.”
